Bill and Peg Balzer, major benefactors, for whom The Balzer Theater at Herren’s will be named, and Theatrical Outfit Executive Artistic Director Tom Key

Theatrical Outfit renovates restaurant for new theatre, aims for LEED-EB

Theatrical Outfit, a 27-year-old professional theater company in Atlanta, began its renovation on the Herren’s Restaurant building to create its new home. The first steel girder slated to go into the building, as part of the renovation was signed by a number of Atlanta leaders and arts supporters including the former family owners of Herren’s, who ran the restaurant from 1934 to 1987. Theatrical Outfit is conducting a capital campaign to renovate the historic Herren’s building into a state-of-the-art 200-plus seat theater space and company headquarters.

To date more than $5 million has been raised for the project. In 2003 the Theatrical Outfit received an anonymous grant, allowing the organization to adhere to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards which will greatly reduce its negative impact on the environment while reducing utility expenses for the theaterx. The organization hopes to claim the nation’s first LEED-Certified theater, as well as the title of first LEED structure in downtown Atlanta. Surber, Barber, Choate & Hertlein Architects is the design firm.

In 2003, Southface celebrated its 25th year and boasted a growth spurt of eight employees to 30. Not far into 2004, the announcement was made for Southface to partner with the Jackson Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) new home energy efficiency rebate program, titled Right Choice. Recommendations and testing by Southface ensure homes built under the new Right Choice program offer:

• Guaranteed energy savings—for 3 years, with Jackson EMC’s lowest rate provided
• Guaranteed comfort and reliability—within 3 degrees of thermostat setting
• Guaranteed energy code compliance confirmed by high-tech performance testing

“Buying a new home is a big decision. We know today’s buyers want homes that are environmentally friendly and that will be both comfortable and economical for years to come. Jackson EMC and our partners at Southface Energy Institute will help homebuyers make the right choice with our new Right Choice home program,” says Jackson EMC President & CEO Randall Pugh.

Learn more about Right Choice and Jackson Electric Membership Corporation at www.jacksonemc.com.

Right Choice Staff (left to right): Top row: Chuck Norton, Jacob Peterson, Richard Shields, Middle: Josh Duckwall, Ethan Hirsh-Tauber, Brandon Pagel, Bottom: Jabril Ahmed, Sergio Marquez. Scott Lee, Mark Newey (click to enlarge)

Richard K. Judy new Executive Director of Earth Share of Georgia

Richard Judy was the Public Affairs Director, Southeast US, for BP Amoco until March 2003 when he retired after 18 years with the company. He was involved in many BP environmental initiatives, including managing the public affairs for BP’s introduction of low-sulfur fuel and working with the Atlanta Clean Air Campaign to implement BP’s sponsorship of a “Cash for Commuters” program.

Judy has been actively involved in environmental matters, including sitting on the Boards of the Chattahoochee Nature Center and the Len Foote Hike Inn in North Georgia. He served on and co-founded the Southeast U.S. Advisory Council in the National Wildlife Federation’s Atlanta office. He has worked with a number of environmental groups including the Nature Conservancy, the Georgia Conservancy, Southface, the Wildlife Habitat Council and the Appalachian Trail Conference. Judy’s business and management experience, combined with his environmental credentials and passion made him a great fit for the position at Earth Share of Georgia.

Lighting Heat Gain Distribution Research Funded by ASHRAE

ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating,Frigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, approved funding totaling $1,010,768 for 11 research projects in the areas of energy conservation, operating and maintenance tools, indoor air quality, comfort and health, design tools and refrigeration systems.

“Lighting is a significant contributor to the overall cooling load of a building,” Christopher Wilkins said. “It is imperative that engineers have the best possible data available, presented in a convenient format, for the most commonly used fixtures.”

The project will better document the interaction of the heat generated by a light fixture and its surrounding space, according to Wilkins, ASHRAE research subcommittee chair. The new information will allow designers to more accurately perform load calculations and energy simulations.

“The increasing interest in sustainable systems has created a demand for more accurate energy and load simulations,” he said. “Building envelopes continue to become more efficient, causing internal loads such as lighting to become a more significant contributor to the overall building load and energy use. Using rough assumptions is limiting the ability of engineers to respond to the demand for highly detailed energy evaluations of sustainable systems.”

Both daylighting and energy modeling are energy saving design techniques that are being used on the Southface Eco Office. A case study on the Eco Office daylighting and more resources on energy modeling are available at www.southface.org.

Southface Retreat